Rep. John Fleming fails to intimidate Democrats with his tweets

Tweeting
has many uses in politics, among them scaring off a potential opponent.
And so it is that Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, tweeted last week: "Big
news today on first quarter funding. Best quarter yet. Stand by for
details." And then a bit later, "1st Quarter ends with $750,000+ cash on
hand for campaign. More than $398,000 raised during the quarter. Thank
you to generous supporters!"

So far, Fleming has no opponent for
re-election to a third term, and three-quarters of a million dollars in
his campaign kitty would seem another reason for any candidate, starting
from scratch, to think twice about mounting a challenge.

But
while he is not a particularly ripe target, he is the ripest in the
state for Democrats wanting to pick up a seat in a House delegation that
is now 6-1 Republican but will be losing a seat in the next Congress.
Fleming won his first term by only 356 votes over Paul Carmouche. While
he easily won a second term, his district has been redrawn a bit as the
state's congressional maps were redrawn.

"It's no surprise that
Congressman Fleming, whose net worth is estimated to be as high as $17.7
million, is bragging about raising money, especially since his
out-of-touch positions, current ethics problems over not disclosing
ownership of a whopping 16 different companies and the newly
redistricted 4th Congressional District all make him very vulnerable,"
said Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman James Hallinan.

"The
Louisiana Democratic Party and national committees are continuing
discussions with several potential candidates and the LDP has already
made the preparations to assist with fundraising, volunteers and field
programs to defeat Congressman Fleming in 2012."